HTML Preformatted Text (<pre> Tag)

When creating web pages, it's important to format text properly to ensure readability and visual appeal. HTML provides several elements that allow you to format text in various ways, and one of these elements is the <pre> tag. In this article, we'll explore how to use the <pre> tag to display preformatted text in your web pages, with examples and outputs.

The <pre> tag is a block-level element that is used to indicate preformatted text. This means that any text contained within the <pre> tags will be displayed exactly as it is written, including any white space, line breaks, or tabs. This is especially useful when you want to display code or other types of text that need to be formatted in a specific way.

Let's look at an example to illustrate this concept:

1<pre>
2This is some preformatted text.
3    This text has tabs and
4        multiple levels of indentation.
5</pre>

In this example, the text "This is some preformatted text" is displayed exactly as it is written, with no additional formatting or styling. The following lines of text include tabs and multiple levels of indentation, which are also preserved by the <pre> tag.

You can also include HTML tags within the <pre> tag, but these tags will be displayed as text rather than being rendered as HTML. For example:

1<pre>
2This is <strong>some</strong> preformatted text.
3</pre>

In this example, the <strong> tag is included within the <pre> tags, but it is displayed as text rather than being rendered as bold text.

It's important to note that the <pre> tag is typically used for displaying text in a monospace font, which ensures that all characters and symbols are the same width. This is especially useful for displaying code or other types of text that rely on precise spacing and alignment.

The <pre> tag is a useful tool for displaying preformatted text in your web pages. By understanding how to use this tag properly, you can ensure that your code and other types of text are displayed accurately and consistently, making your web pages more readable and visually appealing.